Hawley zombie attacker faces charges

A man who, according to a police report, “gnawed” on a woman’s head while naked and covered with blood, was released from a Scranton hospital on September 16, and charged with various crimes including assault and indecent exposure. He was being held on $100,000 bail as of the next day.

Some newspapers have dubbed the incident a Zombie Attack because of the bizarre behavior of 20-year-old Richard Cimino of Doylestown.

According to police, this is what happened. On September 7, at about 4:30 a.m. Cimino was driving his car when it left the roadway and he ended up behind a house on Hudson Street. Cimino stripped to his underwear, and broke into a home.

The owner of the home shouted at him to leave, and after first refusing, he soon did. He then stripped completely naked and broke into a nearby unoccupied home. He made his way to the second floor and jumped through a window. The police report said the jump “seriously injured his arms and other extremities,” and he was bleeding rather heavily, but he kept moving.

Cimino then approached two women, Ann Monaghan and Nancy Dean-Corino, and attacked them, knocking Dean–Corino to the ground. According to the police report, he quote, “gnawed at Dean-Corino’s head and screamed like an animal.”

Both women were able to escape and call police, who found the accused bloody and heaped in the middle of the road.

Police say although he was seriously injured, he was lunging at officers and acting “delusional.”

While an emergency medical technician was trying to administer first aid, Cimino punched him in the face.

Trooper Chad Cunningham ultimately shot Cimino with a taser to subdue him. The accused was transported to Geisinger Community Medical Center, where he received treatment.

Officials say he may have been under the influence of bath salts, which are synthetic drugs manufactured to circumvent drug laws, but which are increasingly implicated in violent acts. Toxicology reports are not complete.